Fruit-clipper.



-'E. S. COBB.

FRUIT CLIPPER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21. a

1 ,287 ,637. P tented Dec. 17, 1918.

EDWABDS. coBB, OFWHITTIER, cmim owm, Assetomon ONEQTHIR Tol JoHN I-I. i

To all whom ?It 'may oncem v BATCHER, on SAN ERANGISGQ; GALIEOBMA.

mmzet& r v

Be it known 'that I EBAY-ARD S. COBB, a

citizen' of 'the United& States, residing at I Whttier, in the Countyof' Los Angeles,

State of California, heve invented gnew and useful Improvements inFruit-(lippers of which: the following. is ia( specficatioh.

This inventon reltes to Clippers or sheers 'more' prt'cularly toclippersedepted foruse in clippng citrus frut end the like, Where t isdesi'r'able to elites closely as possible to the stem button and yet notto inj ure' the fruit or the button in ary maune& "I'n jury tothe fmit:or the button makes the 5;

frit' entirely uns-tabl'e, fon shi ppi ngz purposes. It is; elsa an'object to provide &clip-1 per" of convenient amel handy` form, easily*portion's ofthe clippe1 5'3is an'enl a rgedfulness 'of operation toavoid 'injuring-'the' f'uit. In fact; myclipperis so made a s to renderit Vrtual-1y-impossib1e`to injure the fru t if'the c'l 'pp'er; is' usedin zmy reason'-` able menner.

The-general' features, objects and accom.- plishments' off theinvention, and the inven tion itself, Will be best' understood from thefollowing deteiled description of apreferred form of'clipperWlichiembodies thein vention; reference for this purpose being had tothe accompanying drawngs in which- Figire 1` isa, bottom plan VQW' ofthe clippe'; Fg 2 is a top plan View of the jew -m 2 s o ng es li e ppli'ed'to' e frut; Fi'g j 5 is' similar "section hQW g h lpp nge t n n,p' a

Fg; 6 is' an enlerged* 'section simlar to sh ng the se t 'i s, o thejbIn he ng ho a m y b a preferred generalfofm and' general enge;

ent ef h s pp r, b t p in I-" axe' fjs hee b aesc, an f sa h th x j i 0ess d pendn p l h n@ f l heniles 10' 'piyotedjon a' stfill which islatetted.. mm, 1918,.

ber 13 on the pivot. Anepansion sp ng 14 of the usual' kind isused,also; a means at'. 15,* 15 fo1 holding the handles in their closedpostop; 'In the parte ofithe clippe thue gen elly described the'Construction is;

pers. r N'OW'bhe d ifiieultgy Withordinarjr clip perfsj; this: 'th etgreat care* must; be* used in plecing the' clipper jaws- `upon theifrluit to avoid cuttng or muti l'atingthe button' B" or the fruititself' hen the cgli pperis op ated to cut the stern S, One oi both ofthe opposte edgesf of the jawe are sharp and' the button or-'f'uit canbe very easilymutilated or cut if'the operator does; notexer Ciseconstant care. And the li b lity ojthusf mutlatngthe buttonisnuchincresed; by

the fact "that the stern should be cut as) closelyto the bttonaspossible withoutjin i Now, according to; my nventiom 'I make the lowepjew l'with dct ttin'g edge comes 12% edge corner 12; being mundteaway-"1 so thatynfact, ths j aw presente& protected cutting edge (theedge 12 and is en edge aga nst Whch the 'sharp edge;13'- fthe pe jaw 13does 'the effective citting* the the-thust of' the cutter edge 13andthe' handle of'the jew '12 may`" be regarded in" practice as being'stationary; While the uppe'r jaw- 1- 3 and itshandle are the movable 'pai-'te Whch ;do the actual cutting of the stern; I

Below the upper jew 13-', and Situated-g opposte to lower jew "12,'1"empl-oy a guardztw' '20, which 'is also pvoted upon' the pivot stud e11, havinge flet ple te extension 20 mounted 'upon hivot 11 'andlyingbetween; e

the two jaWs 12 and; 13;.` This giztrcljaw 20 is substantially similarin cross section to lowerja-W- 12 "(see Fgs. A, -5- and 6) so that thelower surfaces of the jaw s 125 and 20; are in ubtantially the same'horizontal planejso as to rest and-bear equally, and

tallyg'a upon' the buttonfofthe' fi uit. 'The jaw 13 and uard'j wsqfitagainst each; A other; and in 'order tojreduce ;Erich-emen&

to preventlthe fmit jiices' gummin'g 'gp th hearing surface between thetwo; ews; Font* shown at 20 `position in contact With the stem.

away' the back part of the 'guard jaw 20 as rests in' sucha positionthat its forward edge :20 is somewhat in advance of cutting edge 13 ofupper cutting 'jaw 13 (see Figs. 1 It is held in this forward position;

and 6). and this position is limited, by means ofspringconstructionembodying a spring 25, preferably fiat andextendingalong the back edge of jaw 13, being turned up at 25 andsecured to this;upper jaw .At its forward end this spring" is turnedinwardly at and thenjit has adependingportion-a lug or pin -as shown; at26, which' passes into an aperture in the back partof gua'd jaw 20.Where'the, spring turns nwardly at its forward end, at 25 there is anotch'27 in'` the back edge of upper ja'w 13; 7 andjthe striking fthespring in the bottom of 'this notch limits thejforward spring presse'iimovement of' the guard jaw 20.

When the device is appled to a fi'uit, its jaws 12 and 20 are laidyinopen position,

upon the buttonB of the fruit; as is indi cated in Fig. 4. The jaws arethen closed byclosing the handles in the usual manne' ;of manipulationof such instrumente; The two Jaws 12 and20 having roundedlowcr edgesand' smooth lower surfaces ,slide 'inwardly and upwardly over thesurface of the button until they come into contact with stem S. As soonas the jaws come 'into contactwith 'stern S, thenthe guard jaw 20 :isheld by the .stem of ,the 'fruit from further in-ward movement and theupper cutting jaw 13 begins to move inward'lyjover the guardjaw. It willbeseen that, up to the time when the two jaws 12-and 1:3 are in actualcontact with the stem,`the upper cutt ting jaw 13 is entirely guardedbythe guard jaw 20 so that'cutting edge 13 cannot' by any possibilitycome intocontact with the fruit or its button' orwvith the stern untilthe jaws 12 and 20 have moved toproper i Then further compression of thehandles 10 wil1 cause' the inwa-rd cutting movement of upper cuttingjaw13 and-cause that cuttingjaw to `movethrough the stern, thelower guard-jaw 20 remaining in 'its position with its,

edge in: contact with the stern as s illustrated in Fig. 5. The :uppercutting 'jaw then moves on .through the stern and'cuts' and shears thestern' 'against the' lower jaw edge ;12% The two jaws or blades 12 and20are made of such thickness at the edges in, contact with the stemof the`Lfruit as may be desired to determine the distance'of the cut abovethe` button. The parts are *shown in exaggerated size in Figs. 4, 5 'and6; in; actual practice the cutting edge 13ofthe 3 upper cutting jaw outsVery close to the top ofthe button. When the` cutis :complete andcompression of th main spring 14 is released the'jaws move hacktotheirnormal Normally, the guard j'w" under the influence of spring 25.

positions, and as soon as the jaws are par tially open the pressure ofthe sten against the guard jawisreleased, then the" guard* jaw will moveback to its normal position 7 Having described a preferred form of myinvention, I claim:

LA clipper comprising a pair of re1a-.

tively movable aws and means for moving said jaws, one of said jawshaving a smooth rounded edge' and the other having a sharp said jawsbeing in shearing relation to each other and one in a plane below theother, the lower aw having a smooth rounded edge andthe upper ]LW havinga sharp cutting edge, a guard jaw with a snooth roundede edge ,similarto the edge of the lowerjaw arranged beneath the upper cuttinpf a\vaiid'95 resilient means to support the guard jaw with its edge indadvance ofthe cutting edge V ofthe upper ja'w; said lowerjaw andsaid` guardjawbeing in a common plane and having lowersurfaces which slopeupwardlytoward their inner opposing rounded mg as and for the purposesset fort-h. 3. A- clipper compri sing'a pair of pivoted ja ws andhandles 'for Operating the a same, said j'aws being in "shearingrelation to each other; and oneina plane below the other, the 'lower jawhaving a smooth -ounded edge and the upperjaw havi'ga sharp cutting'edge,;-a guard .iaw withfa smooth rounded edge similar to the edge of.11 0 hef ower aw .arra-nged beneath the upper* cutting jaw, andresilient means to support theguard jaw withitsedge in advanceofthecutting edge of the upper jaw, said guard jaw *being pivoted at thepivot ofthe two` other jaws; and said resilient .means eii1-- bodying aspring pressing against the guard ,jaw and mounted uponthe uppercutrtngjawfl i having clipp er jaws and h'avng;a guard'j aw v novable andspring supported: upon' :o'iie off the clipper jaws'; a. cut-awayportion in 't-h guard jaw back of its forward edg'eftoie-` nationof twopivoted jaws and ,handles forj operatingth'm, saidf jajwsjbenginshear'ing r relationprie 'plane ah'ove the other, the 13 9 In a devce'of the character 'described 4129 l tac of m sua iw with h L h 1 2 lowerjaw having a smooth rounded edge and the upper jaw having a sharpcutting edge; a guard jaw pivoted at the pivotal ting edge of the uppercutting jaw, the

spring engaging the upper cutting jaw to form a limiting stop to theforward independent movement of the guard jaw with reference to thecutting jaw.

6. A fruit clipper embodying the combination of two pivoted j aws andhandles for Operating theni, said j aws being in shearing relation onein a plane above the other, the lower jaw having a smooth rounded edgeand the upper jaw having a sharp cutting edge; a guard jaw pivoted atthe pivotal point of the two clipper jaws and lying beneath the uppercutting jaw and in the same horizontal plane with the lower clipper jaw,a spring mounted upon the upper cutting jaw and having its end connectedwith the, guard jaw to normally press the guard jaw forwardly with itsedge forward of the cunting edge of the upper cutting j aw, the

spring engagng the upper cutting jaw to form a limiting stop to theforward independent movement of the guard jaw with 'reference to thecutting j aw, and the upper face of the guard jaw being cut away behindits forward edge, so as to allow the guard jaw to contact with the upperjaw only along its forward edge.

In Witness that I claim the foreg'oing I have hereunto subscribed mynane this 3d day of May, 1918.

Witness I VIRGINIA I. BERINGER.

copies o! this patent may be obtained for 'five cents each, by &ad-usingthe "Commissioner ot Patent,

washingtomn. c."

EDWARD S. COBB.

